1.0 Introduction
The Main Program dialog provides access to all image, exposure control, and advanced features of DslrStar - such as focus assist, image sequences, controller remote sequences, auto darks and image synchronization. The camera and DslrStar settings may be changed and images viewed from files or as they are exposed.
1.1
Select Camera and Connect
The first step is to select and connect your camera and the DslrStar controller. Turn on your camera and controller and attach to the computer using the appropriate USB cables. Use the drop down list to select the camera you are using. Visit our web site at www.cercisastro.com for a current list of supported cameras. You can download the latest version of this software for support of the latest cameras.
Press the “Connect” button to connect to the camera and controller. If the camera is found the button will change to “Disconnect”. You can now press the “Settings” button to view or change the camera and controller settings. If you wish to work only with the DslrStar controller, do not press “Connect”; go to the controller function you want and press the connect button within that function which will connect to the controller only.
1.2
Settings
View and change various camera and DslrStar controller settings. Go to camera and dslrstar settings for help on the features of the Settings dialog.
1.3
Exposure Control
Use the “Minutes” and “Seconds” edit box to set the exposure time, or check “Use Camera Tv” to expose using the camera Tv setting. When using the camera Tv, you cannot take BULB exposures. For multiple exposures, enter the number of exposures in the “Series of” edit box. All exposures will use the camera and download parameters currently selected in the settings dialog.
Select a type of exposure, see the Astrophotography Primer section of this help document for an explanation of the types of exposures and how they or used. Exposures types can be:
“Light” - the actual image of the object being photographed;
“Dark” - an exposure the same length as your light images taken with no light hitting the sensor; “Flat” - an exposure of an evenly illuminated white object or the sky at dusk or dawn;
“Bias” - a very short dark exposure.
After setting up the exposure parameters in the settings dialog, setting the exposure time, number of exposures and exposure type, press “Expose” to begin taking your image(s). The progress of the exposures can be monitored using the main dialog progress bar and the status text display. You may abort a series of exposures by pressing “Abort”. There may be a delay before the abort is finished since the software will only abort at appropriate times in the process.
1.4
Focus Mode
The focus dialog gives you powerful tools to simplify the sometimes-frustrating task of focusing a camera connected to a telescope. The focus mode section of this help system provides instructions on using the focus mode dialog.
1.5
Sequence
Sequences automate the process of exposing series of images with parameters you select. See the sequence dialog
help for details.
1.6
Remote
Remote sequences are image sequences stored on the DslrStar controller. They allow you to expose sequences of images without the need to have a computer at the telescope. All the exposure information is stored in the controller when later synchronized with the downloaded images. The remote sequence dialog help describes the use of remote sequences.
1.7
Auto Darks
Using the auto darks feature, you can program sequences of dark images at different temperatures stored in the controller. Then set the camera and controller outside (in a protected location), start the auto dark command and the controller will monitor the temperature; when it reaches your set temperature(s) dark images will be taken. Afterward you can image sync the dark images to create your reduction frames automatically. See the auto darks dialog help for details.
1.8
Image Sync
For every exposure taken with the DslrStar controller in stand alone mode (not attached to a computer), the controller records the time, temperature and type of exposure. After you have downloaded the images to your computer, the software can use the saved information to automatically match the downloaded images to the controller information and create a FITS format image file with all the exposure information applied. See the image sync dialog help.
1.9
Viewer
The image viewer utility is started by pressing “Viewer”; the viewer allows you to see images as they are taken and downloaded from the camera or images stored on your computer. It also provides a batch convert capability to convert images to/from various supported image file formats. The image viewer help completely describes the features of the viewer dialog.
1.10
Help
Access this help system by pressing the “Help” button or F1. Also, context help is available for most dialog boxes by pressing Shift-F1 or the “?” on the dialog title bar and selecting the dialog element for which you want help on.